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Apple isn't wasting any time fresh out of the gates this year. With new gadgets and potentially "game changing" devices on the horizon, Apple is looking for a marketing edge to accompany the technological edge Cupertino has gained on its competition.

Late last night word first emerged that Apple may announce a deal to acquire a large mobile marketing firm. Today it now appears that such a deal is imminent. From ZNET:

Apple could announce as early as tomorrow the acquisition of Quattro Wireless for $275 million, according to a post on Kara Swisher’s Boomtown blog late Monday. Swisher cites confirmation by several sources.

Setting the stage for an epic advertising battle with the likes of Google and Microsoft, two mega companies that have illustrated no shortage of willingness to spend big on advertising, Apple is clearly endeavoring to carve out a new - and prominent - position for itself in the mobile ad world as Cupertino looks to launch both new and updated devices throughout the year (tablet, 4th generation iPhone, etc.).

When the ink finally dries on the deal with Quattro Wireless, it will mark the second major mobile marketing firm acquisition in so many months, as late 2009 saw Google scooping up AdMob for a whopping $750 million - a deal that makes the proposed acquisition of Quattro Wireless seem relatively modest. Still, Quattro has proven itself a force to be reckoned with in mobile marketing, particularly with its growing list of powerhouse clients that include the likes of Ford, Disney, and the National Football League.

[It's] the latest chess move in a mobile space that’s largely being led by Apple’s iPhone and Google’s Android device. Both Quattro and AdMob were start-ups focused on the mobile advertising business, which is seeing changes of its own with the rise of smartphones.

If the deal is done, I wonder if some will begin speculating about the possibility of U.S. antitrust regulators eventually snooping around Apple much the way they are presently examining Google's buyout of AdMob - a situation that some consumer groups are adamantly opposed to.